Keil, Germany

The colds and coughs have us down today. The weather is cold, rainy and windy so we stayed warm and dry on the ship. The captain invited us on the bridge during departure and we stayed for almost 2 hours. That was a thrill to see behind the scenes. I took this photo through the windows of the bridge.

Ronne, Denmark

We have been lucky enough to visit large cities and a few out of the way places.

This is a wonderful small town with red roofs. Cobblestone streets and row houses are standard, but these are only 1-3 stories high. Lots of charm and friendly people. We took a walking tour visiting a great museum and seeing wonderful pottery and clocks in the shops.

Stockholm

Cruising into Stockholm is the best! The fiords and islands remind me of the inside passage to Alaska. We had lovely warm weather and a naturalist to discuss local birds including mute swans and eider ducks as well as local geology and any castle we might chance to pass as we cruised into Stockholm.

Some of the passages were very narrow and protected by forts. Lots of lighthouses on the rocky shores!

We were moored in the harbor right off the palace and walked directly into the old section.

We saw the changing of the guard and although it didn't have the pagentry of Oslo, it was fun. Most of the “old” sections of the cities we have visited are pedestrian only. This makes walking and taking pictures of the narrow cobbled streets a delight.

The Nobel building and beautiful old row houses flanked the market square. There were many cafes and it was a great place to meet and enjoy the day.

I was unlucky enough to catch Don’s cold so we didn’t try to do too much today.

Gdansk (Danzig) Poland

This small city has been an important harbor for centuries. Damage to the old walled and gated section of the city during WWII was repaired beautifully.

We entered the old section through this beautiful old gate.

You can look down the street and see nothing permanent that is not of the old style. The row houses are narrow and 5-6 stories high. There are cobbled streets and alleys, stone porches and railings, and carved statuary and gargoyles. This is a major center for Baltic amber and the jewelry is gorgeous. Most of the first floors are businesses, many restaurants are under the raised porches and hotels and houses are above.

We spent the morning at Stutthof Concentration Camp. There were few signs in English, but the pictures, prisoner art, and displayed items were very moving and told the tale. We also had a very good guide.

We saw the barbed wire and guard towers, the ovens and the gallows. We saw the barracks for prisoners and the superior housing provided for the guard dogs. The commandants villa at the entrance as well as the administration building looked so normal. We saw some of the of the 110,000 inmate records and some of the 490,000 shoes found on the site.

The ovens still have flowers left in remembrance daily.

There is no way to determine how many people died in this camp because towards the end of the war, the people were brought in cattle cars by train and taken directly to the “shower” room where they were gassed with cyanide. Their passing was not recorded.

There is also no way to describe the horror of the reality.

The site is free and upkeep is volunteered by German young people. Nothing we saw was news to us, but seeing the reality was very moving. There is a sign at the exit that roughly translated says “Tell the next generation lest they forget”.

I know I won’t forget.

Gothenberg, Sweden

Don caught a cold yesterday, so he slept a lot and I played around the ship today. We have now won both games of Culinary Trivia and both Wine Trivia games.

Last night I was a contestant on “What’s my line” and would have stumped the crowd with my five years as a kite maker except for a last second shout out from the audience. Although I miss my knitting buddies who left in Rotterdam, we have met two great couples, both from Australia and enjoy their company. It’s nice to share stories as you do laundry or the morning walk-a-mile on deck.

Oslo Norway

We visited the Kon Tiki Museum and learned of the voyages of Thor Heirdahl as he proved ancient peoples could sail across the ocean in rafts. We saw the raft that Thor sailed across the Atlantic as well as Raj II, the reed boat.

We saw the changing of the guard at the palace, which had much pomp, circumtancce and pagentry. here were horses, a band and a regiment of soldiers. Then we visited City Hall with the 5 faced clock, wonderful brickwork and carvings outside and lovely frescos inside.

The building where the Nobel Peace prize is awarded was lovely.

It was cold and windy here today, and arrived back at the ship just before the rain.

South Queensferry, Scotland

We dropped anchor in front of the Firth of Forth Bridge. This is an engineering marvel and massive structure built in the 1800’s and still carries cars and trains. We tendered into the So.Queensferry which is a quaint village built on the hillside with old buildings and narrow cobbled streets. Very romantic. We visited the Falkirk Wheel which is the first of its type. It is a water wheel type structure that replaces 11 locks and raises boats 115 feet to the Union Canal. You can see the two “bathtubs” that counter balance each other behind Don. The boats go into the bathtubs and one goes up while the other goes down. We also visited the Antonine Wall at Rough Castle ruins built by the Romans. Sunset on the deck watching for lighthouses as we sail away is becoming standard. We saw nine lighthouses tonight.

Newcastle upon Tyne, England

Wonderful sunshine and adventurous spirits today. We took a shuttle, train, bus, ferry and bus to get to a very famous lighthouse. We saw several “firsts”. This had a range light that was lit with mirrors sending light from the main lens down a floor and out another partial lens. The function of this partial The main lens was 4.5 tons and I pushed it around with one hand since it is still riding on the original mercury bath. The lens was an unconventional first order having three sides and being double decker. What a thrill to see it. The original carbon arc mechanism was on display and we saw the original weight appratus that turned the lens. They are still using an antique phone in the tower and original door handles in the shape of a fist. The kitchen, sleeping quarters and mechanical rooms have all been restored. It is staffed with wonderful interpreters and volunteers. I mentioned a pop can sitting in the kitchen and the man smiled and said "look around. You will see several things out of place. We put them there and ask the kids to find all the things that don't belong!" It was a fun place for us and obviously a great place for all.

Rotterdam, The Netherlands

This city was destroyed during WWII and has been completely rebuilt. In most towns we have been able to see numerous church steeples. Not here, we just heard them on Sunday morning. Wonderful bells from numerous churches created a soothing atmosphere as we walked. Great (sometimes weird) modern architecture, good public transportation, bike lanes and wide sidewalks. Bikes everywhere ridden by old and young, but not a helmet in sight. Ships and the longest canal boats stay in the channel, but small pleasure craft, water taxi, and smaller narrow canal boats zip in and out the numerous canals and under the shortest bridges with inches to spare. The small amount of cars was amazing. These people are fit. They walk and bike everywhere. Nice parks, museums and green spaces. Lots of water, ponds, streams, etc. so there are birds and water fowl everywhere. We enjoyed the sunset as we left Rotterdam cruising the 30km to the sea past the huge flood gates and the industrial port. It is one of the largest ports in the world and one of the busiest. It appears they dug the wetlands into channels and piers – miles and miles of industrial lands with water access and windmills.

Dover, England

The white cliffs of Dover. Beautiful! We spent most of the day exploring the Dover castle on top of the cliffs. It wasn’t just one building, but the keep, a church, houses, stables, barns, garrison, and fortifications of all kinds including moats, tunnels, towers, numerous gates and draw bridges. The oldest building there was a Roman lighthouse from 120AD. We didn’t have time to tour the secret tunnels from WWII but had great fun anyway. Lovely sunshine and light breeze made the day delightful. We stopped in town for a short time where we saw Dickens Corner before going back to the ship.